I rose bright and early on Friday to explore Singapore! As I discovered at breakfast such an electric mix of people stay at hostels. Varied accents and languages from around the world showcase the types of tourists visiting, however there is also families and business men! It makes the conversations at breakfast rather interesting as people begin to set off on there day!
My first stop was the Singapore flyer the worlds tallest observation wheel at 165meters (42 stories or 31 male giraffes stacked on top of one another!) - based on the London Eye. A rotation takes about 30minutes and literally provides you with a birds eye view (approx 45km radius including views of Malaysia) of the harbour and city layout. It was the perfect start to the day to showcase all the city has to offer. There was only 4 tourists in my carriage which provided a very unique private viewing experience as we all swapped prime viewing corners during the journey!
From high in the sky I planned a waking track from the flyer to the famous Marina Bay Sands complex - an integrated resort billed as the world's most expensive standalone casino property at S$8 billion!
The walk first took my across the Helix Bridge - a stunning architectural feat and world first in architectural and engineering bridge design. Based on the double-helix (DNA structure) pairs of coloured letters c and g, as well as a and t are illuminated in red and green at night and represent cytosine, guanine, adenine and thymine, the four bases of DNA. However the bridge has an intentional left handed DNA-like design - the opposite of normal DNA here on earth!
The bridge provides the perfect viewing platform of another architectural marvel the Art and Science Museum. It's form is said to be reminiscent of a lotus flower referred to as 'The Welcoming Hand of Singapore' with ten extensions referred to as 'fingers'. The design concept for each finger denotes various gallery spaces sporting skylights at the 'fingertips'.
I continued on... under and through the Marina Bay complex and out into the Gardens by the Bay. This is a
park spanning 101 ha/250 acres and aims to transform Singapore from a 'Garden City' to a 'City in a Garden'. The gardens include two amazing cooled glass conservatories - the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest which were spectacular to view from the flyer!
Most eye catching however are the gardens out of this world 'supertree' vertical gardens which range in height between 25-50 meters tall. There is an elevated walkway between two of the larger Supertrees which I walk on - proving a breathtaking aerial view of the entire gardens. It felt just like being on set of the Avatar movie!
I finished my visit to the gardens with a garden tour in a buggy with full commentary showcasing the various garden designs and unique art installations.
That afternoon I participated in my packages included city tour which saw visits to the Merlion statue - the mascot and national personification of Singapore.
It is a mythical creature with the head of a lion (representing Singapore's original name - Singapura - meaning 'lion city' and the body of a fish (representing Singapore's origin as a fishing village). Following we visited China Town, a rare gem workshop and the National Orchid Garden, located within the Singapore Botanic Gardens - comprised of 60,000 orchid plants with over 400 species! A must for flower lovers!
We finished up at Little India visiting the street traders and their market wears. I purchased a delicious fresh coconut juice - a must when I am in any Asian country!
Later that evening I partook in a Night Safari at the - world's first open-air nocturnal zoo! It houses houses over 120 different species of animals! This is a must of you visit Singapore! It felt like being on Safari - the animals roam around freely in their habitat and you travel in an open aired trolley. A water buffalo came right up to me and scared the living daylights out of me! I practically jumped into the lap of the Australian gentleman sitting next to me!
That sums up my little Singapore sling! Bring on this 14 hour flight!!
'You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you discover will be wonderful... and what you discover will be yourself!'
